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MISC. PUB. 601, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



surveys to determine the abundance of certain insects in restricted 

 regions, their use as a means of obtaining insects for the collection 

 is not recommended because the specimens are too frequently damaged. 

 Insects for the collection should be selected and captured by attend- 

 ing the light continuously while it is in operation. 



Although any reasonably bright light will serve, more insects are 

 attracted to blue lights than to other kinds. A convenient method of 

 collecting at a light is to hang up a white sheet so that the light 

 shines upon it, turn up the lower edge to form a trough into which 

 some of the insects will fall, and collect the specimens as they come 

 to the sheet. Many insects may also be collected around street lights 

 and lighted store windows. 



BAITS AND BAIT TRAPS 



Baits of many kinds are valuable aids to the collector. One of the 

 best known uses for baits is in "sugaring" for moths. For sugaring, 

 make a mixture of molasses or brown sugar, a little asafoetida, and 

 stale beer, rum, or fermenting fruit juices, and daub it on tree trunks 

 along a route that can be conveniently visited with a lantern or flash- 

 light. As with light collecting, this method is most productive on 

 warm, humid nights. The bait should be applied about dusk and 

 may be visited at intervals all that night and frequently will be found 

 to be attractive to insects on succeeding nights. Moths, ants, and 

 many other insects will be found at the bait. 



Insects that are attracted to either sweet substances or decaying 

 meat may be captured in simple jar traps. Bait the jar (an olive 

 bottle or a fruit jar will do) with an appropriate bait, and bury it 

 with the open top flush with the surface of the ground. It is fre- 

 quently desirable to set these traps under loose boards or stones lying 

 on the ground. 



TWEEZERS, FORCEPS, AND BRUSHES 



The collector will find it advantageous to have available an assort- 

 ment of tweezers and brushes as an aid both in collecting and in 

 handling the specimens after they are dead. Equipment of this kind 

 may be purchased at small cost from most biological supply houses. 



Figure 4. — Tweezers and forceps : A and D, Types of tweezers for handling ordi- 

 nary specimens ; C, tweezers for handling unmounted Lepidoptera ; D, tweezers 

 for handling living, soft-bodied insects ; E and F, two types of pinning forceps. 



